“I was that before he was.”
Ice Cube has declared that his music career served as a precursor for Kendrick Lamar‘s own reign of dominance and challenging of the status quo.
On Ice Cube’s recently released single, “It’s My Ego,” the West Coast legend compares himself to Lamar, deeming himself the prototype to Kendrick’s makeup as an emcee, as well as a legend in his own right.
“I was Kendrick before Kendrick/ Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, like Jimi Hendrix,” the 55-year-old raps on the track, which was released earlier this month as the lead single to his forthcoming studio album, MAN DOWN.
During a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Rock the Bells Radio, Cube was asked about his reasoning behind his Kendrick comparison, which the rap icon says was born out of their examination of sociopolitical matters within society.
“Just, you know, a provocative artist,” Cube said of the similarity between himself and the Grammy Award winner.
View this post on Instagram
“An artist that said what I felt, put it all out there, very critical of the system and the government and what we have to go through as Black people in this country. I think he’s the same kind of artist: a thought-provoking artist. I was that before he was,” he explained.
This is not the first time that Ice Cube has been complimentary of Kendrick. Earlier this year, he shared his thoughts on the hitmaker’s lyrical back-and-forth with rap rival Drake during an interview on the Big Pod with Shaq.
“I approve of the beef,” the former N.W.A. member said. “I always approve of rap battles. That’s the essence of the game… As long as it doesn’t get physical, ’cause that’s not rap. When it get physical, that’s just street crime.” He continued, “I think Kendrick is up. I think he’s landed the more hard and effective punches, so to speak.”
Speaking of diss records, earlier this year, Ice Cube deemed his own track “No Vaseline” as the greatest ever produced within the genre. “‘No Vaseline’ is the best diss song in the history of Hip-Hop, and I’ll tell you why,” Cube told the crowd during a live performance.
“One MC, myself, I took out four muthaf**kas and their manager. You can’t beat that. You can’t beat that.”
